WRITERS: Nick Santora & Matt Olmstead DIRECTOR: Kevin Hooks
CAST: Wentworth Miller (Michael Scofield), Dominic Purcell (Lincoln Burrows), William Fichtner (Agent Mahone), Rockmond Dunbar (C-Note), Robert Knepper (T-Bag), Paul Adelstein (Agent Kellerman), Wade Williams (Bellick), Reggie Lee (Bill Kim), Danielle Campbell (Gracey Hollander), Quinn Wermeling (Zack Hollander), Steven Chester Prince (Agent Blondie), Andra Fuller (Trey), Christian Stolte (C.O. Stolte), Daniel Allar (Avacado), Lester "Rasta" Speight (Banks), K.K. Dodds (Susan Hollander), Jeff Perry (Terence Steadman) & Callie Thorne (Pam Mahone)
Kellerman takes Michael and Lincoln to Terence Steadman's hideout, C-Note gets bad news about his wife, T-Bag tries to become a family man, while Agent Mahone recovers in hospital...After last week's stunning late twist (the dastardly Kellerman swaps allegiances and shoots Mahone) things continue with a spring in their step. John Doe picks up immediately following Michael and Linc's tunnel escape, bundled into Kellerman's car and delivered with typical unlikeliness across a police roadblock...
Now with Kellerman's help and knowledge, the conspiracy behind the President's supposedly-dead brother Terence, can finally be exposed to the world. All they have to do is kidnap Terence from his Montana safe-house and let him spill the beans to the media. Needless to say, it doesn't all go as smoothly as they'd hoped.
I breathed a sigh of relief when Mahone survived his shooting, as William Fichtner has been terrific throughout this season. It would have been gutsy to kill him off mid-way through season 2, but ultimately pointless. John Doe cements his position as a man forced to do terrible things just to protect his family. It's nice to see Mahone regain some sympathy after his recent cold-blooded actions, but the late promise of him going rogue is even more exciting...
The brilliant Wade Williams is also back as Bellick, now incarcerated at Fox River. It's particularly nice to see Prison Break have a justifable reason to explore Fox River again, as the absence of a prison environment has been a necessary but unfortunate evil of season 2. As an an ex-prison warder, Bellick isn't popular amongst his fellow inmates, here facing demeaning punishment from resident hard-ass Banks (Lester "Rasta" Speight).
Bellick's subplot is very dramatic and full of tension, superbly played by Williams and the imposing Speight. The canteen scene, where Bellick is forced to deliver dessert to Banks, is a real highlight and I hope this prison-based plot continues. I miss the pressure and anxiety of Fox River.
Less interesting is the T-Bag and C-Note plots. Robert Knepper is great as psycho T-Bag, but he's been ill-served by season 2 generally. The writers don't really have anything particularly interesting for him to do, so while his insidious attempt to become a "family man" with his last victim's young family is enjoyable enough, it's a far cry from the dynamite scenes T-Bag was involved in last year.
C-Note gets even less to do, stuck on the phone to his friend Trey throughout the whole episode, in scenes that exist only to provide snippets of information about his arrested wife. Forgetable stuff.
Overall, this is a crucial episode for its relation to the government conspiracy that has fuelled Prison Break since the Pilot, hobbled by some pointless subplots (although Jailbird Brad is a highlight). Some viewers may feel cheated by the episode's end, which provides yet another cruel twist of fate that seems to instantly negate the previous 35 hours of entertainment.
Prison Break is the kind of show that likes to test itself with ever more unlikely or seemingly suicidal plot-twists, and the truth is... it usually gets away with it.
Prison Break is the kind of show that likes to test itself with ever more unlikely or seemingly suicidal plot-twists, and the truth is... it usually gets away with it.
